In the ugliest game the Vikings have played in thus far this season, they finished the second half with a 10-3 lead over the Miami Dolphins.
A lot has happened in the first half with Dolphins quarterback Skylar Thompson hurting his thumb and leaving the game, allowing former Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to come in against his former team.
Despite the poor football from the Vikings, coming out of the first half with a lead is huge when playing on the road. Here are the main three takeaways from the first half.
Ryan Wright has been the best player thus far
The Vikings haven’t been able to move the ball whatsoever so far but their punter has done a good job ensuring that the defense is set up in a good place. Over his five punts on the day, Wright has averaged 49.6 yards per punt with a long of 73 yards when the Vikings were inside the five. Having a really good punter, especially when he’s under team control for four years at cheap money.
Dolphins miscues have bailed out the Vikings defense
The Vikings have allowed the Dolphins to move the ball relatively effectively throughout the first half and they are lucky that it only turned into three points. A good reason for that is due to the Dolphins shooting themselves in the foot. They had one drive reach the red zone but the Dolphins committed five penalties for 40 yards and had a costly sack knock them out of field goal range.
The offensive line has been inconsistent
One of the benefits the Vikings have had this season was a consistent performance by the offensive line. So far in this game, it hasn’t been there like you would have hoped. They haven’t been able to open up any lanes in the running game and have allowed pressure to get to Cousins too often, including allowing two sacks. They will need to steady their play during the second half.
